Thursday, December 22, 2011

I can't believe that Landon is now a one & a half year old. But I can say that 18 month old Landon is the best Landon yet. Although I say that every month, I truly mean it this time. Minus the tantrums. But even those are really funny.

A few fun facts about the little tyke:
He's obsessed with anything with wheels. Cars, trucks, trains, etc. and is totally content spending his entire afternoon wheeling them around any & all flat surface he can find. He's fascinated with closing open doors, drawers, cupboards, and lids. Also with putting things away. We finally trained him not to "put things away" in the trash, after losing (& replacing) 2 sets of keys, 2 bottles, our tv remote, and a new iphone.
His favorite movie is Madagascar (I & II) and putting it on has a similar effect to sticking an IV in him. He will totally glue himself to the TV and turns bug-eyed during intense scenes. It's the best babysitter ever.
He is going through a "Daddy's Phase" which of course I am jealous of, but I also adore it. He doesn't spend nearly a tenth as much time w/ Chris as he does with me, yet every evening when Chris comes home, Landon will hear the keys & door and lights up with more excitement than I can get from him all day and runs to the door like a maniac all gitty and laughing and holds his arms up to Chris to be thrown in the air and get smothered in his kisses & hugs. It's adorable, but the worst is when we are both home and I am carrying Landon and Landon will reach out for Chris to hold him. Wth buddy?! Sigh... I guess (hope) my mama's boy phase will come eventually.
He's still sleeping a sweet 12-13 hours straight through the night...going to bed @ 7 and waking up @ 7 or 8. (Awesome). Transitioning over to one long(er) nap a day around 11am-1pm which I love.
He's 31 inches tall (2'7'') and 24 lbs 10 oz. 50th percentile for his height, weight, and head circumference (I guess he doesn't have an alien head afterall). He's still size 4 in diapers, and clothing size 24 mo. - 2T.
Drinking whole milk about 3X a day. Eating everything - Especially loves him some guacamole, chicken nugs, bananas, strawberries, cheese, & yogurt. Only things he does not like so far are lettuce and mushrooms. He surprises me with his taste for olives and anything really spicy. May have something to do with my diet (or lack thereof) during his pregnancy. He loves to share his food with you and will open your hands and put some of his snacks in your palm so you can eat with him.
He handles getting his blood taken like a total champ and a million and a half times better than I do just watching him. Maybe that means there's a good chance he'll be a doctor.
Not talking yet but he babbles like crazy and says things all the time that closely resembles the English language. This may be because I spend so much time with him and am imagining all this in my head but for example, when I hand him something he sounds like he says "thank you" and after sneezing he'll say something that sounds like "bless you"and after you say his name I swear sometimes he turns around and says "what?" I think it's only a matter of months until he is speaking full sentences and telling me all sorts of crazy stories.

My goals for him (us) over the next couple of months:
1. Teach him Spanish & French as he learns English. Plan is to get a bunch of Disney DVDs in espanol & francais and books with Spanish/French subtitles. I've already started translating a few of his baby books. (See image below).
2. Get him totally weened off the pacifier. We're off to a small start. No paci's during the day and only @ nighttime. Soon we'll kick the nighttime paci so we won't have a 4 yr old kid running around sucking one of those darned things.
3. Get him to walk everywhere alongside me holding my hand. Maybe impossible.
4. No more TV until he's at least 2. Doctor's orders.
5. Learn how to give kisses. I want him to lay me big, fat, sloppy smooches right on the peckers. Awesome.

waiting @ the pediatrician's

he's going to be a tri-lingual baby if i have to spend all my afternoons on yahoo babel fish

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

As I'm sure all of you are crazily hustling & bustling about, shopping & trying to get all your gifts for every family member and friend checked off your list, wrapped, & shipped.....Try to remember what Christmas is really about. Society is disgustingly overwhelmed with commercialism and is constantly telling us we need the latest technology, toys, clothes, accessories, and it's definitely very easy to get sucked in, especially this time of year. I can't even count how many holiday catalogs I've thrown straight into our recycle bin and how many advertisements I (we all) view on a day to day basis, exponentially multiplying during the holiday season. But worse, we're made to believe that we also need these things not just for others, but for ourselves. To look better, to be cooler, to be more successful, to host the best party, to be happier, to have it all, and to have the latest.

Remember you aren't defined by what you buy, and there are lots more ways to give much, much more.

Saturday night we celebrated our one year anniversary....Had an amazing dinner @ the new steakhouse III Forks Chicago just steps outside our building, then over to a friend's holiday party, then a late night visit to Enclave to see LMFAO, and then dug into our thawed out year old wedding cake to cap off a wonderful first year of marital bliss.

One down, 99 to go.

party rockin'

YUM! (not really)

& to many, many more happy years ahead. i love you, i love you, i love you.